


Sesquipedalian

by kingpig



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Lemon, M/M, One Night Stands, One Shot, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, RPF, Smut, Touch-Starved, okay there is a little plot, season 6, very much lemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:48:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27731812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingpig/pseuds/kingpig
Summary: Ren's trap for Xisuma's demise was a stroke of genius - but it also blew up his ice track. And now he needed help repairing that if he didn't want that gaping hole to remain throughout the night for mobs to make a home in it and potentially cause even more damage.So who better to ask for help than the guy he'd just blown up? Especially if an army of phantoms landed him the opportunity to take a peek underneath that usually ever-present armour.
Relationships: Xisuma/Rendog, Xisumavoid/Rendog
Comments: 12
Kudos: 72





	Sesquipedalian

**Author's Note:**

> First things first - this is a work of fiction, based strictly on the ingame personas of any and all Hermits mentioned. I am aware that separating real-life person and minecraft avatar can only be taken so far since on some level they are obviously the same. That said, the characters in this are in no way meant to represent the actual people behind the usernames and are rather inspired by a combination of canon and fanon content that involves their characters. This does not reflect in any shape or form how I believe they do or should interact irl. It's all fake, and it's going to get explicit because I'm a horny bitch who has no concept of self-control.
> 
> Also PSA, this is fanfic-logic sex, where spit is just as good as lube, properly preparing yourself/ your partner is semi-optional and condoms are pointless and basically nonexistent. Be safe out there and use protection.

When Xisuma woke up, his ears were still ringing from the TNT blasts that had been going off all around him. He’d been cruising along Ren’s ice track, getting a terrible lap time and having fun doing so, and the next thing he’d known he’d gotten blown up. 

He sighed. His own damn fault for trusting the guy who had demised first and _immediately_ thrown on a reaper’s cloak like he’d only been waiting for the opportunity to turn on his fellow Hermits.

Be that as it may – where on earth was he, now? He couldn’t see a damn thing beyond the soft glow that emitted from his visor, but even that looked unfamiliar – it was tinged green instead of the gentle violet he was used to. 

“Well… this place is kinda dark,” he said to himself, turning from side to side to see if there was anything to find for him to use for orientation. Muffled from above, he heard Ren’s voice. 

“Ah, welcome to the land of the dead, Xisumavoid.”

He heard the sound of grass being ripped away, and suddenly stared up into bright daylight, with Ren’s dark cloaked figure against it, surrounded by sun rays. If he hadn’t just literally killed him, Xisuma would have said he looked kind of angelic.

“Uhh… is this my grave?” Xisuma asked, staring up at Ren from the dirt hole he found himself in, now that he could see. 

“It is,” Ren said with one of his good-natured smiles, “it is.”

Xisuma groaned and climbed back out of the ground into the world. His muscles felt tired. “Being dead feels kinda funky.”

“Yeah. You look beautiful though.”

“Ugh I need to stretch,” he said, and while he was still speaking, he did a mental double take at Ren’s words. Oh yeah, he was bound to look different now, wasn’t he? What he could see of himself was grey, like every last nook and cranny of his armour was covered in dust and soot. 

He sighed and gave Ren a look. Ren was grinning – it was an apologetic grin, but even with his trusty sunglasses he could not mask the twinkle in his eyes that showed that really, he felt like the cat that got the cream. Xisuma shook his head, feeling a little smirk of his own tug at his lips. “You know, I could be mad at you, but in a way it’ll bring us closer together cause we’re now both dead.”

“Yeah,” Ren said with a laugh. “That was – that felt really good.”

“Well yeah, maybe for you it did!” Xisuma said with a huff before he couldn’t help but laugh. “I had TNT go off all in my face, do you know how painful that was? Man, I’m gonna have a tinnitus for _days!_ ”

Ren burst into laughter once again. “Well, look at it this way – you won’t have to spend your days in fear of dying and I get to have you with me on the dead team! And there’s nobody else I’d rather have.”

“There are many people I’d rather you have,” Xisuma replied dryly, and Ren’s barely subsiding laughter bubbled up again. “Come on X! You know I love you, even if I killed you.”

“Strange way of showing it, mate,” Xisuma chuckled and clapped Ren on his cloaked shoulder. “Nice one though, I’ve got to give you that. Didn’t expect you to blow up your own ice track just to get me.”

“I’d blow up so many things just to get you,” Ren said, angling his head down so he could wink at Xisuma over his sunglasses. Xisuma rolled his eyes fondly. “I’m sure you would.”

“Would rain fire on the ends of all worlds for you,” Ren said with a dramatic swing of his arms, which got another laugh from Xisuma. 

“Lay waste to every dimension! Wage war on the gods! It would make the devils weep with remorse for every foul action if they caught one glimpse of you through my eyes!”

“Jesus Christ, Ren!” Xisuma managed through bursts of laughter, as Ren dramatically gestured along with his monologue. He grinned. “Not sesquipedalian enough for you?”

“Sis- what?! Ren, I can’t even say acacia half of the time, stop expecting me to know words this big!”

“Pompous,” Ren provided a less over-the-top synonym. Xisuma was still chuckling. “Quite the opposite, my so poetically inclined friend. Quite the opposite. I think you’ve fulfilled my need for verbal pomp for about the next twelve years or so.”

“You’re welcome. Free of charge, too,” said Ren with a grin. Then, after a beat, he went on. “Hey, X.”

“What now?”

“Say ‘acacia’ ten times fast.”

Xisuma gave an amused huff. “Achacha ,” he said pointedly, and Ren burst into a barely contained, gleeful chuckle. “Ahh. Love it when you do that. Always brings a smile to my face to hear you talk a little funny. Anyway. Let’s get on with our business, shall we? Now that I’ve blown up stuff to get you.”

Xisuma grinned and nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you around, Reaper!”

“See you around, X.”

The sinking sun was already turning the sky into vibrant purples and blushing reds when a message from Ren popped up on Xisuma’s communicator. 

Renthedog: < Hey X? >

Xisuma: < I’m not testing anything else for you >

Renthedog: < Don’t you trust me? :D >

Renthedog: < Actually though, can you help me repair the track? Just some quick fixes >

Renthedog: < Wanna get it done before it gets dark so no mobs end up in the system >

Xisuma: < I should refuse, but the dead gotta stick together I guess. Be there in a minute! >

Renthedog: < I’ll let you have another lap :D >

Xisuma: < No thanks :-D >

A little while later, Xisuma landed next to Ren on the shattered ice track. Ren shot him one of his devilish grins from under his hood. “Don’t worry, I spent my time waiting for you by removing all the TNT, so you’re all safe.”

“Gee, thanks. Couldn’t you have done that _before_ you sent me on the track?” Xisuma shot back with a grin of his own. Ren laughed. 

“Didn’t think of that. I guess that lack of brainpower was my demise.”

“And you just had to drag me down with you,” Xisuma deadpanned, rummaging around for a torch. It was getting dark rapidly. Ren was already setting one down. It seemed that just like in life – or death, in this case – he was way ahead of Xisuma these days.

“Come on ya grumpy,” Ren said, throwing Xisuma a shulker full of supplies. “Let’s get this done before your lack of speed has the mobs swarming out and gets me killed.”

“Oi!” Xisuma went in a perfect display of the purest offense. “You killed me first!”

“Yes, and look at you now. You’re more gorgeous than ever. Now let’s fill this hole!”

Xisuma countered Ren’s eyebrow-waggling grin with a huff and went to work. “Didn’t you want to wire this up with redstone anyway? To count the laps and times and whatnot?”

“Yeah,” Ren replied from somewhere down in the bowels of his former death trap. “But I’ll have to get the water out of here first anyways, there’s tripwires everywhere and I don’t want to risk leaving holes for the mobs to make a home in. And I don’t know when I’ll actually get to finishing this properly, you know? So I figured if I fill it in for now I can start over with a clean slate later.”

“Fair enough,” Xisuma said with a nod, and for a while, they worked in silence in the light of their flickering torches as night rapidly descended around them. 

The hole was almost entirely filled when darkness had fully triumphed over any remaining light. The damage to the surrounding track and trees had been miniscule, luckily. Xisuma was fighting off the third skeleton in a row that had crept out from the forest around them, when Ren came zooming past him, blasting rockets like the devil himself was chasing him. 

After nearly jumping out of his skin, Xisuma turned and saw that somehow, a creeper had managed to weasel out from the nooks and crannies that still remained around where Ren had been working. 

“Oh jeez – !”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence when the creeper used the one too many seconds he needed to scramble away to unceremoniously blow another hole into the ice. Xisuma, largely unharmed save for a few bits of ice that bounced off of his armour, steadied himself and gave an unimpressed sigh. 

“Oh my days.”

“Oh your days indeed, that’s _another_ bit we gotta fix now!” Ren fake-scolded as he sailed back down from the skies next to Xisuma. “You okay?”

“I’m in too much armour for a puny creeper to blast a hole in me,” Xisuma said. Ren grinned. “Guess I can be proud of myself then, huh? I blasted you to absolute smithereens, dude!”

“Will you stop gloating, you wretch?!”

Ren burst into laughter and Xisuma joined in with a shake of his head. Just then, a noise from the sky reached his ears that had both of them fall silent. 

“Oh great, phantoms too?!”

“Let’s get inside,” Ren said, one hand already on Xisuma’s back with a gentle push. “It’s too dark for us to get anything done out here anymore, and I really don’t want to risk blowing more holes into this thing.”

“Serves you right as well!” Xisuma retorted, letting Ren guide him along, back to the little starting building next to the racetrack. He could feel the heat coming off of Ren’s hand through the parts of his armour that were made of thick mesh rather than actual armour plates, to allow for more flexible movements. 

He suddenly wondered when he’d last felt another person’s skin on his – without fabric or armour in between to dull the sensation. It felt like a lifetime ago – then again, that didn’t mean much currently, did it? He had literally died earlier today.

“X? You with me, man?”

“Yeah, sorry mate.”

Xisuma pulled himself out of his thoughts and followed Ren into the little building, narrowly avoiding the first phantom attack. The screech of it faded as it soared back up into the sky to its kin. He peered out through the windows. The sky seemed to be crawling with the winged beasts, what felt like hundreds of glowing green pairs of eyes searching for them from above. 

“Jesus. Have we really worked through the nights so often?”

“It’s been quite a few,” Ren replied in a strange tone of voice – like a mixture of awe and horror. He’d taken off his sunglasses – finally, considering they’d been working in relative darkness for a while – and was staring out at the sky for another second before turning back to Xisuma. “What now? Do we just sleep? There’s the beds here, I worked on this long enough that I did actually sleep some of the nights rather than work through.”

“At least you’re not going to get us into the bed predicament,” Xisuma said with a chuckle. Ren blinked at him. “The what?”

“Oh my goodness me, we’ve got to stay the night in this place together but there’s only one bed!” Xisuma said in a silly voice, and Ren broke into a burst of full-on belly laughter. 

“That’s not a predicament!” he said between chuckles. “I don’t know about you, but I have absolutely no hang-ups about spending a night with you in a tight space. We’ve known each other for long enough, I’d trust you blindly and in my sleep. We could have some cuddles if you want to.”

“Likewise, don’t you worry,” Xisuma replied with an amused smile. “But since you’ve got more than enough room in your resident beds, I don’t think we’ve got to.”

He gestured to the double bed next to them and Ren grinned. “Nah, we’re good. I can move one if you want to sleep with the armour off.”

“I mean, I do, but it’s all good.”

“Yeah? You sure?”

“Listen, I wear this for the practicality. The whole thing about me having no face under here is just a running gag, you know that right?”

Ren rolled his eyes and sat at the edge of one of the beds. “It _never_ occurred to me that it _possibly_ could be a joke. I was just saying, I know you don’t go taking the helmet off just because people ask.”

“It’s just a hassle to do, really,” Xisuma replied and flicked the latches open that secured the helmet to the rest of his armour at the sides. With a gentle hiss it released, and the light behind the visor went off. Ren looked at him in unmasked, keen curiosity. 

Xisuma laughed while he reached behind his head and fiddled with the latch at the back. It was smaller than the other two and specifically meant to keep the oxygen flow into the helmet steady as long as it was secured. After a moment, it sprang open and Xisuma pulled the helmet off. Ren tilted his head a little.

“Your hair’s short.”

Once again, Xisuma couldn’t help but laugh. “That it is.” 

Ren grinned as he unabashedly took in every feature of Xisuma’s face, raking his eyes over it like he had been presented with a rare artwork. 

“I don’t know why I thought it’d be long. It makes sense that you keep it short, with the helmet and all.”

Xisuma watched him with an amused smile. “Anything else you wanna comment on?”

“Your eyes are brown.”

“They are indeed.”

“I thought they were purple.”

Xisuma snorted. “Why would I have purple eyes?!”

“I don’t know! Your visor made them look purple! I didn’t think very hard about it!” Ren shot back with a laugh of his own. “With Tango looking like he’s got redstone for eyes, Doc being a green robot man and _everything_ about Jevin, you’d think purple eyes aren’t all that far-fetched!”

“Okay, okay, you’ve got a point,” Xisuma said, lifting his hands in defence. Ren chuckled. “You’re pretty, man. Like really, you are. Should treat us to a glimpse of your face more often.”

“But then where would I get my fix of people reacting in awe to me just existing?”

“I’ll be in awe about you dude,” Ren said with a grin. “I’ll write you poetry.”

“Oh, don’t,” Xisuma said with a little snort of laughter. “I’m still recovering from your sasquatchian outbursts from before.” 

“Sesquipedalian.”

“Bless you.”

Ren fell back onto the bed with laughter. His sunglasses clattered to the ground somewhere next to it, but he didn’t bother looking for them. Outside, the phantoms were shrieking faintly. 

“Oh my god, I think I haven’t slept in like eighty years. My brain is melting out my ears, dude.”

“What else is new,” Xisuma said dryly and began to unlatch his armour. Even though his eyes were fixed on anything but him, he could feel Ren watching him. It wasn’t uncomfortable, really, only unfamiliar to have someone around to witness him shed this second skin of his.

Slowly, piece by piece, the armour came off. First the arms, then the chest and back plates, then the legs and the boots. Finally, there he was, in a tank top and shorts that did nothing to alleviate the feeling of nakedness that crept over him when he met Ren’s eyes. 

Ren was completely still on his spot on the bed. Not even a movement as small as the bounce of a foot or the twitch of a finger came off of him. Just as unashamedly as he’d stared at Xisuma’s face, he now took in the rest of him. The tiniest hint of a smile was tugging at his mouth. 

“Yeah,” he just said, his voice softer around the edges than usual. “You’re pretty, X.”

“You don’t have to say that, you know,” Xisuma replied, busying himself by putting the armour pieces away somewhat orderly against the wall. He heard Ren laugh softly behind him. 

“Hey. Don’t frame it like I’m saying stuff out of some weird obligation. I know you’re not hiding your face or your body because you’re ashamed of them, and I know you don’t need reassurance, let alone mine. I’m not complimenting you because I think I’ve got to, or because you need me to.”

“Then why?” Xisuma asked, turning around and sitting on the other side of the bed. Ren was still lounging on his half, seemingly relaxed, but unmoving. “Cause it feels like you’re making a big deal out of the fact that, shock and amazement, I do have a face and a body.”

“And they are something to remark upon,” Ren said with a little wink. “But no, that’s not why. It’s just that I’ve never seen you out of your armour before and I don’t know when or if I will again. Gotta take the chance while I have it, and since I’ve only got positive things to say, I might as well say them.”

“I guess it’s always gonna be a bit weird having people perceive me out of armour for the first time,” Xisuma said with a shrug, talking to himself more than he was talking to Ren. “Everyone gets used to it eventually, but somehow it’s become such a weird anticipatory thing, and some people make it into a way bigger deal than it actually is. Why’s it important what I look like, or how much of that they’re able to see, you know? I’m still the same guy, no matter what my face looks like.”

“Yeah,” Ren replied with a nod. “You are. But you know how it is. Grass is always greener. People always want what they can’t have, and if the thing they can’t have is knowledge of what your face looks like, then they just get more curious about it. Especially if, when they come up with the brilliant idea of just _asking_ for it, which surely nobody has done before, you say no and don’t elaborate why.”

“Is ‘I don’t want to’ not a good enough reason?”

“Oh sure it is. But people aren’t… you know, rational. They’re emotional. And what they’re really saying is that they admire you, because you and what you do makes them happy. And the way happiness goes is that we always want more of the thing that provides it, we want another little piece of the puzzle that brings us so much joy. And if you’re withholding a piece, we just want it more, because we want to be happy. And what makes us happy is you.”

“When did ‘they’ begin including you?”

Ren’s face lit up with a smile so warm that Xisuma felt his heart clench, and he had to swallow hard so he could keep breathing normally. 

“When I started being happier with you next to me than I was with you elsewhere.”

Ren’s voice was impossibly soft. Xisuma just stared at him, unable to come up with a response. Ren’s smile widened into a grin, but lost nothing of its warmth.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep. We could both use it.”

He sat up and shrugged out of his cloak, revealing his usual shirt and jeans. He gave Xisuma a questioning look. “Do you mind if I get rid of the jeans? They’re super uncomfortable to sleep in.”

“No man, of course not. I’m literally in my underwear right now.”

“Well look, in the house of Rendog we’re all about the comfort of our guests, okay,” Ren said with a laugh and kicked his trousers off. Xisuma grinned. “Well in that case, let me just put the helmet back on.”

“If that’s what’s comfy for you,” Ren just replied matter-of-factly. “I did say, I’ll sleep elsewhere if you want me to.”

“It’s all good man, I’d still be suited up if you being here actually bothered me in the slightest.”

“Good to know you still trust me from beyond the grave,” Ren grinned as he climbed into bed. Xisuma followed suit, lightly shoving Ren’s shoulder. “Traitor.”

Ren just laughed and extinguished the lone torch that had been providing them with some flickering light. Only the light of the moon that gently crept through the windows still illuminated the room, and the phantoms outside suddenly seemed louder than they had been a moment ago. 

“Man, those beasts. It’s no wonder there’s half an army of them, how can anyone sleep with those noises?”

“A stack of diamonds says you’ll be out cold within the hour,” Xisuma teased, trying to get comfortable. Ren chuckled. “You’re on.”

For a little while, it was silent and only their occasional shuffling under the blanket could be heard over the noises of the night-covered world outside.

“Is that suit really comfortable?” Ren suddenly asked into the darkness. Xisuma turned to face him, just barely able to make out Ren’s face in the moonlight. 

“It is. Of course it is, it’s got to be for how much I’m in it. Why?”

“Just wondering. I know it’s probably just a matter of getting used to, really, but it seems to me like it would be really impractical? Like, I use my hands way too much to be able to give up my sense of touch for the sake of armour.”

“Says the guy wearing _a reaper’s cloak_ ”, Xisuma teased. “That seems like it would be much more impractical to me, mate. That thing’s got to get caught on everything!”

“It does,” Ren admitted, and the grin was audible in his voice. “It’s an absolute hassle, but it looks so cool. It’s just a costume though. I’ll be out of it again eventually. You always wear the armour.”

“I do. It works fine for me, even though you’re right – my sense of touch is a little bit impaired, usually. The gloves don’t block all sensation, but the plating does of course. So I can obviously still tell if I’m touching stuff. It’s stuff touching me that I don’t always notice.”

“Isn’t that strange?” Ren asked, shuffling under his blanket. “I mean – I don’t know, I can’t imagine not being able to feel things like I currently do. Does it block out textures?”

“Some of them,” Xisuma said, instinctively feeling at the material of the blanket and letting the fabric pass through his fingers, conscious of the cool friction as he followed one of the folds with his fingertips. “I can tell the difference between grass and rocks, but fine textures tend to blend together somewhat.”

“Mhm.”

Again it was quiet for a moment or two. Suddenly, Ren sat up a bit. “When was the last time you hung out with someone out of armour?”

“Uhh,” Xisuma said, a bit perplexed by the question. “I don’t know, a while ago? I don’t really keep track of it, you know.”

“X, when was the last time someone hugged you?”

“You did, when I met up with you to test out your ice track, ya derp!”

“No, I mean – without the armour.”

“Jeez, I don’t know! Why’s it such a big deal?”

“How is it _not_ a big deal!” Ren replied, now sitting up fully. He seemed downright indignant. “I can’t imagine not getting to hug my friends on the regular! Does that not bother you?”

“Not really?” Xisuma said, sitting up as well to bring himself back to eye level. Ren’s ponytail caught the slowly fading moonlight, shimmering strands flowing like little rivulets of water over his shoulders. “If it bothered me, I’d change it. I’m not really missing anything.”

“X, can I hug you?”

Xisuma gave a little chuckle. “Sure, man. Knock yourself out.”

Ren pushed the blankets aside, crawled over and pulled Xisuma into his arms. Xisuma returned the gesture, still chuckling to himself silently. Ren was holding him tightly, one arm around his waist, the other slung over his shoulders with his hand burrowing somewhere in Xisuma’s hair. He was sitting halfway in Xisuma’s lap, unable to make the position work otherwise with both of them kneeling on the bed. 

Xisuma patted Ren’s back. “Ren? You okay?”

“Yeah,” Ren said next to his ear. His voice was quiet, suddenly. “Sorry man, I just had this moment of – you know, I couldn’t live without my sense of touch. I need to feel the things around me, you know? If I’m working with wood, I wanna feel how rough the bark of a tree is, or the little uneven bits of the trunk when you chop it down with an axe.”

“You’ll get splinters,” Xisuma said with a little smile. Ren gave a quiet huff of laughter. “Yeah. But it’s worth it, you know, it’s such a huge part of how I experience the world. And when I was thinking about missing out on that, even a little bit, I just – I don’t know, I got really emotional there, dude.”

Xisuma squeezed him gently before pulling back from the hug so he could look into Ren’s face. Ren grinned apologetically. 

“I’m okay, Ren, trust me. I’m used to the armour, and everything that comes with it. I’m not making myself suffer by putting it on.”

“I know, I know that,” Ren replied softly. “I don’t think you’re some, I don’t know, tortured soul I guess. I just – I don’t know. I had a moment there. Got all flustered from seeing your helmetless face.”

“It’s dark in here, you can’t see anything.”

“I’ve got it burned into my memory so I can write you that poetry later.”

“I’m leaving,” Xisuma said with a burst of laughter, “Let the phantoms have me.”

Ren grinned. “I’ll just blow something up. We’ve established that’s how I get you back.”

“You know I’m not going anywhere, you wouldn’t have to miss me for long.”

“I’ll miss you forever. Like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies.”

“I know that from somewhere,” Xisuma said with a chuckle, “You can’t fool me.”

“I don’t need to, you’re already a fool.”

Xisuma laughed and pushed Ren over, making him fall to the side. “Shut up.”

Ren just lay there and grinned to himself while Xisuma turned to find his blanket again. 

“Hey X,” Ren said, unmoving from where he was laying on top of the exact blanket Xisuma was pulling on. 

“Hm?”

“Can I… uh, there’s no non-weird way to ask this, but, uhm. Could – can I touch your face?”

Xisuma couldn’t help but snort with laughter. “I mean, sure you can, but why?”

“I like touching things!” Ren replied, finally pushing himself up again. He was laughing too, but Xisuma could tell he was at least a little embarrassed. “I like knowing how they feel. It’s like I get to see them twice, you know? Once with my eyes and again with my hands.”

“You want more pieces to the Xisuma puzzle, don’t you,” Xisuma said. He had meant to tease Ren just a little bit, but then Ren gave him that look again – the one that made his heart skip a beat. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Always do.”

It felt like there was _something_ in the way he was saying it, in the way he’d said it before – something hidden in plain sight, something that was staring Xisuma in the face, but he couldn’t manage to see it. His eyes fell on his hands lying in his lap, fuzzy silhouettes in the dark. 

“Touch my face all you want, then,” Xisuma said, kneeling across from Ren once more and looking back at him, searching those eyes that he could just barely make out in the dark for the hues of blueish grey he could usually find in them in the daylight – to find something familiar in this strange unknown they were suddenly treading together. 

“But,” he continued, feeling something flutter in his throat, “I get to return the favour. This is going to be weird anyways, so I might as well join in your little experiment. Make use of the lack of gloves.”

Ren nodded, and even though it was really too dark to tell, Xisuma could have sworn that he saw a faint blush creep across his face. 

For a heartbeat, they just stared at each other, then Ren lifted one hand and gingerly laid it to the side of Xisuma’s face. The gesture felt so intimate, so honest and so unashamedly _loving_ that he reflexively leaned into it. He felt Ren’s thumb caressing his cheek ever so gently. 

“You really are pretty, you know,” Ren said, his voice barely more than a whisper. Xisuma gave a short, quiet little laugh. “You’re pretty yourself, ya derp.”

Ren’s hand began following the lines of his face, from the faint line of his cheekbone and then his jaw down to his neck and back upwards, drawing little patterns across his hairline, ghosting over his temple and finally coming to rest as he cupped Xisuma’s cheek. His thumb traced over the curve of Xisuma’s lips like a butterfly’s touch.

Ren was watching him as if he was searching for something in his face. Xisuma stared back, feeling as if a million miles lay between his actual body and the point he was looking at Ren from. He was leaning forward just a little bit. Xisuma could feel his other hand coming to rest on his shoulder. 

“Ren?” he heard himself ask, his voice quiet and dull as if he were calling to himself from far away.

Ren kissed him. 

Gently, oh so very gently he pressed his lips to Xisuma’s, steadying himself with one hand on his shoulder while the other still cradled his face with a touch so soft as if to reassure him – as if to say, “You can stop me at any time.”

But Xisuma, frozen and unable to move neither back nor forward, just sat there. He felt like he was watching himself from somewhere else. The sensations his body was feeling reached him like a weak transmission that he was trying and failing to hear clearly. He was vaguely aware of one of his hands finding Ren’s arm, helplessly holding on while the other lay still on the blanket beneath him, feeling the folds of the fabric press against his palm.

Ren pulled back just a little and found Xisuma’s half-lidded eyes with his own. Questioning. Searching.

“X?” 

His voice was so impossibly soft. Xisuma blinked. He felt like he was floating through space somewhere. He tilted his head, and it was like he was moving through water – like he was dragging himself through honey. He squeezed Ren’s arm ever so slightly. It felt like forever that his hand travelled up Ren’s shoulder, brushing past some strands of hair that hung across it, and finally reached his neck where it pulled, urged him gently forward again until Ren followed the silent request. 

His lips were soft and warm against Xisuma’s, and still he was barely moving – the touch of his hand remaining featherlight, leaving Xisuma a way out. A way to change his mind. Like a question, lingering, waiting for an answer. 

An answer.

Suddenly, Xisuma was back in his body, waking up as if he was breaking the surface of deep waters and gasping for air. Like he was coming back to life with a jolt.

Following a need that now all of a sudden crashed into him with urgency, Xisuma found himself moving into Ren’s lips, pushing him closer, pulling him in with both hands until he was seated in Xisuma’s lap and caught in his arms, lost in what felt like an embrace of long-lost lovers.

Finally, they came apart. Eyes closed, they pressed their foreheads together, listening to their heavy breaths mingle between them. Ren tilted his head just a little, making their noses brush, and Xisuma nudged him back, feeling a smile spread across his face.

He heard Ren chuckle quietly and felt a laugh bubble up in his chest in response. His arms were slung over Ren’s shoulders, and he could feel Ren’s around his waist, hands heavy and warm against his back. 

“You’re impossible,” he said, a gentle whisper between them. The darkness felt comfortable around them. Ren laughed quietly. “Yeah, a little bit.”

He pulled his head back to look at Xisuma, who met his eyes with a smile. “And what now?”

“I’ve claimed your life, and I’ve claimed your lips. What else are you willing to give me?”

“A knuckle sandwich if you keep talking like that.”

Ren broke into a fit of snorting laughter. “Ever the romantic.”

“One of us has got to be, right?”

They grinned, arms wrapped around each other, alone together in the warmth of the night. Slowly, Xisuma let himself sink forward until their foreheads were touching again, and Ren’s arms around him held just a little bit tighter. Something hung in the air between them, heavy and unspoken.

“Let’s pretend we’re in love for the night.”

“Night is dark and love is blind… if we keep our eyes closed, we won’t know the difference.”

Their lips found each other again, two pairs of hands feeling for the other, wandering, caressing, exploring. 

Xisuma felt Ren push him back, slowly, gently, until they were laying down again. There were lips on his, and hands trailing down his sides, and Ren’s warm body pressed against his own. He would miss the sensation of it, later.

One of his hands was still tangled in the long strands of Ren’s ponytail, resting just at the base of Ren’s neck where soft, loose baby hairs were growing. The other found Ren’s waist, creeping under his shirt and feeling the soft curve of his body, muscles moving under the warm skin. He hooked a leg over Ren’s thighs and Ren sighed a barely audible sigh. One of his hands grabbed Xisuma’s thigh and Xisuma arched his back in response, trying to push closer. 

He could feel Ren’s lips against his own. Their bodies were intertwined and entangled like they wanted to crawl into each other, and slowly, the comfortable warmth between them morphed into an urgent heat.

Where moments ago there had been only the gentle rustle of fabric and hands against skin, their breaths were now becoming heavier, needier, interspersed with quiet moans and gasps as their touches became less soft and their movements against each other more wanton.

Xisuma could feel Ren’s dick pressing hard against his hip – suddenly and acutely he became aware of it, and it sent hot waves of desire through his body. They raced through his limbs, crashed in his abdomen and made him twitch up, trying to angle his body so that he could feel the friction of their erections against each other, obscured by nothing but thin layers of fabric.

Ren was gasping above him, somewhere along his jaw where he was placing sweet kisses and gentle bites that sent sparks through Xisuma and made him claw at Ren’s back. He wanted – he wanted to touch, to feel, to cling to this pretence for as long as he could, and if it meant never opening his eyes again. Right now, he would rather be blind if only it allowed him to feel.

Ren’s lips were on his again and his hand flew into the mess of hair at the back of Ren’s head and held on, keeping him there as if to say, “Don’t go.”

A hand found the side of his face, and it felt – safe. So safe, and loving and full of innocent promise, even as Ren was rolling his hips into Xisuma’s with sinful precision, making their breaths mingle in a shared moan. 

“God, I wonder what sounds you’ll make once I’ve got my mouth on you,” Ren whispered, breathless and with his voice husky with lust.

Xisuma groaned. No, Ren truly was far from innocent, in reality. But his every action, every panted word sounded genuine and so _honest_ \- Xisuma’s thoughts stuttered and then fell away from him when he felt a warm hand creep under the waistband of his shorts, while the other remained on his shoulder, just shy of the crook of his neck, caressing, reassuring. 

“This okay?” he heard Ren ask in between the kisses he was scattering on his neck, and Xisuma felt something inside of him snap.

 _”Yes_ , yes, please, I – anything. I’d say if I wasn’t okay.”

“Okay. Same with me – anything you wanna do. I’m down.”

Xisuma opened his eyes. Ren’s body was warm on top of his, and his head was buried somewhere between Xisuma’s neck and his shoulder. His hand was still lingering on Xisuma’s lower stomach, waiting for one last okay. Hesitant. 

Suddenly, Xisuma realized how much _room_ Ren was still giving him, really. He was supporting most of his weight on arms and legs, moving against him, but still oh so careful to leave Xisuma enough space to escape if he wanted to. 

“Ren. Look at me.”

Ren lifted himself up so he was sitting on Xisuma’s legs, hands ghosting over his chest. His eyes found Xisuma’s. 

Xisuma took hold of his face, feeling the stubble of Ren’s beard under his palms – the curve of his jaw, the little baby hairs around his hairline, the little bit of roughness on the skin of his cheeks where he’d gotten ever so slightly burned by the sun. 

“Just feel. Don’t think.”

Ren broke into a grin. “Want me to concentrate on the moment? Use my instincts?”

Xisuma rolled his eyes with a pained groan before he began laughing. “While you’ve completely ruined the mood now, _Qui Gon_ , yes, that is in fact what I want you to do. I’m not made of glass. If you’re going to touch me, do it properly.”

Something glinted in Ren’s eyes as he leaned down, and it was strumming a string in Xisuma’s chest that vibrated through him with anticipation. Ren’s hand trailed down the side of his face and then slowly down his neck and across his chest until it reached the waistband of his shorts again.

“Last chance, baby.”

A slight grin played on Ren’s face – still questioning. Xisuma kept his eyes locked on Ren’s and pushed his hand down. 

_”Yes.”_

With a downright animalistic growl, Ren lunged forward. All restraint had suddenly gone and Xisuma relished the hungry lips claiming his own, the sharp teeth digging into the sensitive skin of his neck and the hand that finally, firmly wrapped around his dick, providing the friction he was _aching_ to feel.

Xisuma’s eyes fell shut again and he threw his head back to give Ren better access to his neck, which Ren made use of immediately, sucking and biting until love bites bloomed all over Xisuma’s skin. 

Xisuma was clawing at Ren’s back, making him hiss oh so sweetly as his nails left red trails behind. He pushed the hem of Ren’s shirt up with shaky hands while he couldn’t help bucking his hips into Ren’s fist.

“Get that shirt off,” he managed, panting, and Ren gave him a deliciously rough stroke, making him arch his back and moan at the sweet sensation. 

“You too, baby,” Ren replied, his breath hot against Xisuma’s battered neck. The pet name sent shivers down Xisuma’s spine and had him gasping quietly.

They parted just long enough to get out of their shirts and, after a brief pause and a heated look, stripped out of their shorts as well. Ren pushed him back down as soon as he’d untangled his legs from the black fabric. 

Before Xisuma really knew what was happening, Ren had crawled down the length of the bed and pushed his legs apart, leaving hot butterfly kisses across his thighs before he licked a long stripe up the length of his dick. 

Xisuma felt like all of the muscles in his body suddenly turned into jelly, and a shaky moan escaped him. 

“Ren – !”

Ren hummed breathlessly, arms settling around Xisuma’s thighs and hands clawing at the soft flesh. The sharp curves of his nails made Xisuma buck his hips just a little, and he could feel Ren’s head drop with a gasp. 

“You’re so beautiful like this.”

Xisuma would have answered, but Ren parted his lips and sucked him into his mouth agonizingly slow, his tongue twirling around in the softest touches, and Xisuma just collapsed in on himself with a helpless, unrestrained groan. 

“Fuck – !”

Ren moved and Xisuma’s one hand flew into his hair to push him down while the other gripped the blanket beneath him like he wanted to tear it to pieces. Ren moaned around him when Xisuma tightened his hold on his hair and Xisuma’s hips twitched up involuntarily. Ren choked, and Xisuma immediately pulled his head back up.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t – please don’t stop, man, keep going.”

His voice was so urgent, so frantically wanton that Xisuma just complied and pushed him back down, grabbing his hair even tighter. The moan he got in return was downright filthy. 

Ren wasted no time swallowing him down again, pressing his tongue against his dick as he sucked and teased and pushed his head down until he choked on Xisuma’s dick in his throat. 

Xisuma was panting, low groans escaping him. He threw his head back, arching his back and gripping Ren’s hair, holding him in place while he pushed his hips up ever so slightly, and _god_ it felt so good, the way he was just barely slipping down Ren’s throat with every little thrust. The way Ren choked on his cock just slightly every time and still kept on sucking, still kept on moaning shamelessly for more while he let Xisuma use his mouth and just _took_ it, loving every last moment of it. 

The pleasure was beginning to spike in white-hot sparks before Xisuma’s eyes, spiralling into a burning coil, and he couldn’t help a low whine, knowing he had to stop if he wanted to drag this out and still keeping his grip on Ren’s head, thrusting into his mouth with needy despair.

“Ren – ugh, I’m gonna – fuck, it’s too good, I can’t – please, Ren, I – ”

Ren tightened his grip on his thighs. His head movements became even faster, and Xisuma choked on his moan. He scrambled to pull Ren off of him even as he kept on bucking up with shaky hips, but Ren didn’t follow the tug on his hair and instead moved in synch with Xisuma’s hips, angling his head just slightly – Xisuma gave a desperate yell when Ren let his jaw go slack, allowing Xisuma to fuck his throat with no more resistance.

“Ren, oh fuck- _fuck, Ren – ”_

Xisuma arched his back, shaking with tension, unable to stop himself from pushing his hips up one more time as he pressed Ren’s head down. He felt his dick brush against the back of Ren’s throat and like a lightning strike, the coil snapped and exploded in front of his eyes.

Somewhere far away, he heard Ren groan and felt him finally lift his head again.

His hands came back to rest on his cheeks with that soft, caressing touch. He turned his face and buried it in Ren’s palm.

“You okay, X?”

 _“Yeah,”_ Xisuma replied and pulled Ren down into his arms, “Yeah, I’m so okay right now.”

Ren adjusted his position so he could nestle his head into Xisuma’s neck once again and chuckled. 

“Good. God, you sound so lovely, baby.”

Xisuma coaxed his head up just enough to press a kiss to his lips, and Ren hummed gently. He was still hard, his cock pressing into Xisuma’s hip, and Xisuma let his hand trail down to give him some lazy strokes that made Ren shiver and break away into a drawn-out moan.

“Let’s see what you sound like, then.”

Ren groaned and let Xisuma push him slowly onto his back, one hand still trying and failing to rub gentle circles into his shoulder. Xisuma crawled down, leaving tiny kisses all over Ren’s skin and earning himself breathless gasps in return that betrayed just how desperately horny Ren was by now. 

He was squirming under Xisuma’s every touch, twitching up to meet his lips, his hands, and Xisuma raked one hand down the length of his chest only to be rewarded with a hiss that turned into a helpless whine halfway through.

“X – !”

Xisuma let his tongue trail down one of Ren’s thighs and Ren almost sobbed.

Before he let Ren have what he was shaking for with desperate anticipation, Xisuma snuck two of his own fingers in his mouth. If he was going to be able to prepare himself while having Ren in his mouth, he had no idea, let alone if Ren was even going to last long enough.

Still he carefully pushed one finger inside himself as he took Ren in his mouth, unable to stop himself from hissing at the intensity of the combined sensations.

Ren let out a guttural groan when Xisuma swallowed him down, one hand clawing at his shoulder, the other hesitantly coming to rest on top of his head. Xisuma pulled himself up one more time, just long enough to say, “Yes, Ren _please”_

Ren pushed him down and Xisuma moaned around him, earning him a gasp in return. He shivered. Ren was making it hardly necessary for him to move at all with the way he was shoving his head up and down in desperate motions, but it allowed him just enough presence of mind to continue to work his fingers as he opened himself up. 

Ren was gasping and moaning and whining above him, and Xisuma couldn’t help how _wrecked_ it made him feel – the sensation of his own fingers stretching him, of the _noises_ Ren was making and the way he was too overwhelmed with lust to do more than thrust up into Xisuma’s mouth with short, sloppy jerks of his hips was making him see stars.

He teased Ren’s dick with the tip of his tongue ever so slightly and Ren _sobbed_.

“God X, _please_ , I – I _need_ – ”

Xisuma gave a choked moan, spreading his fingers in a desperate attempt to ready himself faster. His dick was getting hard again, still oh so sensitive from having come so recently, and he couldn’t help a little whine when he felt himself rub against the blanket below. Ren moaned, and it sounded so sinfully needy that Xisuma felt all patience that still remained in him evaporate right then and there. 

Pulling himself up and away from Ren’s dick, he gave himself one final stretch and then crawled back up until he hovered above Ren’s lap. Ren was staring at him with pleading eyes, pupils so blown that they looked outright black in the dark of the night. 

“X – ”

Ren didn’t get to finish his sentence when Xisuma bent down to press a kiss to his mouth before reaching behind himself, grabbing hold of Ren’s dick and lining himself up, shaking with the anticipation of it. 

Ren broke the kiss with a disbelieving groan as Xisuma sank down onto him. He felt so tight, so barely ready for this at all. But then Ren’s head fell back heavily onto the pillows, and – 

_”Fuck_ , you – holy – god this – ah, is the hottest fucking thing, you – ah, god X, I’m – fuck – ”

Ren was babbling, trying and failing to get one coherent sentence together, but then Xisuma rolled his hips and Ren’s words drowned in a high-pitched, strangled cry. He bucked upwards, hands flying to Xisuma’s hips, and Xisuma could do all but sob helplessly when Ren began to thrust into him, hard and fast and _desperate_.

“Oh god you feel so good, you’re so fucking tight, I’m gonna – ugh, X I’m gonna come, it’s too good I can’t – fuck, you’re so good – ”

Xisuma’s head was swimming by now, he was jerking himself with rapid strokes that felt like each one was sending liquid fire through his veins and all he could do was utter high-pitched cries every time Ren thrust his cock into him, brushing against his sweet spot and digging bruises into his hips.

“That’s it, come on baby, come for me, I want to see you lose your mind, just like that – ”

Xisuma sobbed. He was so close, Ren’s words gasoline on the fire that was raging inside of him. Ren picked up the speed of his thrusts, driving him insane, nails scratching across his skin and panting words finding Xisuma’s ears.

“Fuck that’s it, I’m gonna come baby, you’re gonna make me – I’m gonna – X – !”

Xisuma came with a desperate cry. He was being ripped out of himself, arching his back and throwing his head back as he shook with tension as if he was about to snap into two while Ren’s grip on his hips became so tight it _hurt_ in the most delicious of ways. 

He found himself collapsed on top of Ren who, breathing quick, shallow breaths, was holding him in a tight, warm hug and had his cheek pressed against the top of his head. 

“Fuck,” he breathed, and it was said so utterly heartfelt that Ren broke into quiet, breathless laughter. “Fuck indeed.”

“You’re amazing.”

“So are you.”

For a few moments they lay in silence, then Ren somehow manoeuvred them under the blanket. 

“Sleep,” he murmured, giving Xisuma a gentle squeeze. Xisuma nodded tiredly.

“Yeah. I owe you a stack of diamonds tomorrow.”

“Why?” Ren asked, thoroughly confused. 

“You weren’t out cold within an hour.”

Ren burst into laughter.

“No, but tell you what. I’ll pass on the diamonds if you promise we’ll do this again.”

Xisuma was already unable to even open his eyes anymore. 

“Yeah,” he said with a yawn, pushing just that little bit closer still. “I could be persuaded.”

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning dialogue is roughly taken from [Ren's episode 96 of season 6](https://youtu.be/2EcNNcYfnLw?t=891)
> 
> ["Achacha."](https://youtu.be/BqpsycrqTwA?t=352)
> 
> "Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky": Taken from [Lana del Rey - Summertime Sadness](https://youtu.be/TdrL3QxjyVw)
> 
> [Feel, don't think](https://youtu.be/l-UHYdJ6Q8M) \- it's a Star Wars reference. Because Rendog.


End file.
